Photo editing Software

[Aaron Berk]

Hey quick question... I think.
My wife and I run an online business selling clothing and we have to photograph each and ever piece. The problem were having is that our colors aren't coming out perfectly "true" to the garments real color tones. We've tried the Kodak software that came with the cameras and it doesn't work to well. Recently we have been enjoying Picasa3 powered by google and it works well, but I'd like to upgrade and am looking for software that has super quick/simple color editing and cropping ability. These are the only key features we need, anything else will just be icing on the cake.
Any thoughts? purchased software or free downloads, I'm game for anything that works.
Thanks heaps.
Aaron

[Robert Eiffert]

I'm using GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) now. For basic stuff it has a short learning curve. Good support via help or forums also. And free. And extendable.

I used to use Photoshop Elements. It might be a bit shorter on the learning curve and also has a lot of support.

I think GIMP is a bit more resource efficient. Most actions seem quicker. P. Elements has a nice album setup.

Color matching is hard, especially considering the range of monitors and operating systems that can affect your photos. Using studio lights and the same setup will help get better consistency. Maybe check your camera manual to see if there is a manual color balance. For my wife's jewelry, I wound up with a light tent and always used the same two lights and a custom color balance setting in the camera. Once we got the variables nailed down and were consistent, I was a bit more successful at adjusting color.

Bracket your shots. 'Film' is cheap and exposure effects color.

[Glenn Clabo]

I don't know what camera or program you have so I'm shooting in the dark.
Because color is affected by color temperature...My first suggestion is to learn a little about white balance and then try to use your editor.
Here's a good start... http://digital-photography-school.co...-white-balance
If that doesn't work...here's some suggestions for free editors...
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/pix...eephotoedw.htm
Also here's some info that will help you in general... http://www.tabletopstudio.com/clothing_photography.html#tools

[Bill Huber]

As Glenn stated not knowing what camera you are shooting with it is really hard to say which way to go and what to use.

I shoot all my images in Raw format and use Adobe Lightroom to develop the Raw file to a jpg

So first things first, you need to calibrate you monitor, there are some good devices out there to do this with. I use a Spyder for this job and am very happy with it. Here is a link that will give you a lot of very good info on setting up your monitor.

http://www.normankoren.com/makingfineprints1A.html

If I am shooting something that does not have a white color in it, I will use a Macbeth card and then in Lightroom Just use the color picker to pick the white square and it takes care of the rest.

If you can always shoot in the same light this will make things a lot easier. Once you have an image done the way you want it to be then check the color temperature and use that as your guide.

Now when you have a mixed lighting problem I use an Expo Disc, they work very well when you can set a custom white balance on the camera.

http://www.expodisc.com/product-deta...FRIfDQodAkeZaw


Now to answer your question, Lightroom is a great program if you can shoot Raw with your camera.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photos...om/?sdid=DKRZV

ACDSee is another really good image cataloging and editing program.

http://store.acdsee.com/store/acd/en...ctID.106893200

[Scott Shepherd]

Just to add to what Glenn and Bill said, the problem is that light changes the appearance of color, and your camera doesn't always know what light you are taking photos in. If you take a white piece of paper and put it in the sun and then create a shadow over 1/2 of it, one side will look bright white and one side will look gray. But it's the same color, so how can be look different? Same problem the camera has, it doesn't always know which light you are in when the photo is taken.

Basically, you can buy a white balance card, or gray card, and you can leave that in the photo next to the item if acceptable, if not then, you'll need to take one photo with it in there, one with it out.

That card is basically a calibration card.

You can then open the photo in GIMP (Free as mentioned above) or Elements, or any photo editor and set the white balance off of that gray card. Then, the color in the image will be correct. If it looks wrong from there, then it's the monitor calibration as stated above.

It sounds overwhelming and confusing but once you do it a time or two, it's easy and it'll make your colors right. Now, printing them and having them turn out the right colors is another story

[Jim Becker]

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements.

[Thomas Bank]

As others have alluded to, no matter how careful you are with the color calibration on your end it will all depend on how things look on the buyer's monitor.

Because color quality from screen to print is essential for what I do, I use one of these: http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-pp-s3studio.php

It means that I can take a Pantone color off a chip, have it show up that color on the screen, and then show up that color on the print. Granted, there is some variation, but not a case of strong color swings.

But it still doesn't help me when I send an image to someone else and their monitor is not calibrated.

[David G Baker]

I use an old version of Adobe Photoshop and it does everything I want.

Jim B.
I tried using Elements but after getting hooked on Photoshop I can't seem to make the transition to Elements. I only use about 1/10th of what it is capable of and should learn how to use the rest but I am lazy.

Aaron,
If you are really serious about your color correction there is software that will help you adjust your monitor to what you see is what you get.
Your lighting must be color correct. I have professional tungsten studio lights that I use on occasion but I now use the white light screw in flouresent bulbs that put out light that nearly matches the color of daylight. For reflectors I use reflectors designed for brooding baby chickens. Real cheap setup and works great for good color. I try to put a lot of light on things I photograph.
Check out www.kenrockwell.com/tech.htm for some good information.

[David DeCristoforo]

Paint Shop Pro:

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli...0&tabview=tab0

95% of the power of PhotoShop... 10% of the price. Awesome!

[Aaron Berk]

Thank you so much....
You guys put out allot of great tips. I'm on my way to using the spyder calibration tips and then from there I'll move into my camera's manual for color balance help. I like the bit about the White Balance Card, sounds like a good call.
More info on my situation......
I'm using just a plain Kodak EasyShare M863 that does 8.2mp.
I know it sounds crude but I'm taking pictures with my oak floor as a back drop and just regular household lighting and daylight from a sliding glass door.
I think I'll look into the expo disk because I can't set up custom lighting just yet. But I'm moving towards a studio set up in the distant/near future.

Thanks again for all the help. Creekers Rock!
God Bless
Aaron

[Myk Rian]

Another program that is free, GIMP
www.gimp.org

[Ron Dunn]

If you are taking a lot of photographs in similar light conditions I think you'll really enjoy Photoshop Lightroom. It has a batch processing capability that can make the same exposure and white balance settings (among others) to multiple files at a time.

I'm not into changing photographs (ie, pasting in new bits, adding text, making fancy shapes, etc.) and I find that Lightroom is the perfect tool for my "digital darkroom".

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/

[Aaron Berk]

As Glenn stated not knowing what camera you are shooting with it is really hard to say which way to go and what to use.

I shoot all my images in Raw format and use Adobe Lightroom to develop the Raw file to a jpg

Hey Bill what's "Raw Format"?

[Ron Dunn]

I'm not Bill, but I'll give an answer to that question.

"Raw" is an uncompressed file, exactly as recorded by the camera's sensor. When a camera translates the sensor data to a format like JPG it can make subtle changes in colour and lose some detail.

That said, a camera with a large sensor and a good lense won't show much (if any) difference for a typical photograph. If you don't have a "Raw" capture mode for your camera, don't let it worry you.

Are you near a book shop? I was browsing around the Barnes & Noble opposite the hotel in which I'm staying, and there was a whole section on digital photography. Go and look around, I'm sure I saw books on photographing items for display that would give you a lot of useful advice.

[Jim Becker]

One other note about "raw" images is that they are vendor specific and contain a wealth of information that can be manipulated by "good" software like Photoshop if the format is supported. Nikon raw is one supported format, for example. Raw makes major image manipulation and retouching a very precise science for folks who know what they are doing.